TUITION hike: Two words that make our jaws clench, our eyes narrow and our blood boil. Every time you turn around it seems the Board of Visitors is either raising tuition or contemplating a tuition hike. How dare those rich, successful individuals raise our tuition to ensure the University remains an elite institution of higher learning! No, there isn't a vast conspiracy by the Board or the legislators in Richmond to raise the cost of a University education. Rather, we are attending this school during an unfortunate confluence of circumstances -- a $1 billion state deficit and subsequent decreased funding from the Commonwealth, plus a limited number of options on how to remedy the problem. One thing is clear: A tuition hike for the 2004-2005 school year, though unpopular, is a necessary evil.
Two weeks ago, seven legislators addressed student concerns about the state's and the University's financial picture at a forum on higher education. The legislators were refreshingly candid and made no attempts to hide the fact that the University should not expect any new or increased funding in the foreseeable future. Del. Robert Bell, R-Albemarle, crystallized at the forum the three options the State has: Raise taxes, let the Board raise tuition or the University receives no new money.
While it may seem easy as college students to root for tax increases for higher education spending, since the majority of us don't have a large if any tax burden, the story isn't nearly that simple. For one, tax increases are extremely unpopular in Virginia -- just witness the 2002 tax referenda in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads for transportation. Both measures were soundly defeated. Second, even if taxes are raised, higher education funding is not at the top of the education funding totem pole. The governor and the legislature make no secret that K-12 funding is the absolute number one priority.
By no means should some of the blame be taken away from the Commonwealth. The University is receiving only 8.1 percent of its funding from the state in fiscal 2004, which is low compared to other elite public universities (UNC received 23 percent in 2003). Also, the state embarked on an eight-year campaign of tuition freezes and rollbacks starting in the mid-'90s. So instead of gradual 3 percent or 4 percent annual raises in tuition over the past few years, the University is now faced with raising tuition by double-digit percentages. It's a classic Catch-22: During the economic boom of the 1990s, tuition increases were criticized because the state coffers were flush with tax revenues. Now, with a barren economic landscape, tuition increases are still disparaged, this time as an unfair "tax" on students, especially lower and middle class students attempting to obtain a descent education. Which is it going to be?
The specifics of a tuition hike for the 2004-2005 school year will not be decided until April, but right now in-state students will likely face an increase of between 11 percent and 22.5 percent. The 22.5 percent certainly carries a little sticker shock but would only occur if the state provided no funding. What about the 11 percent? That works out to around $500 a student, which is a lot or a little depending on your economic background. Financial issues aside, the University remains a tremendous value when it comes to public universities. Kiplinger's recently released "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" places the University second in the nation when it comes to in-state tuition. There's definitely a tradeoff. With no tuition hike, the costs stay the same, but the intrinsic value of the University goes down. With a tuition hike, the cost goes up, but the intrinsic value rises.
Whatever your take on the tuition hike issue is, understand that it all boils down to some very simple facts. Virginia is facing a $1 billion deficit; the money for increased or even equivalent funding just doesn't exist. Tuition increases were few and far between at the University over the past decade. Despite an 11.2 percent increase in in-state tuition this year, we still remain the second-best value in the country for public colleges. These double-digit tuition increases are certainly not going to continue year-in and year-out; we're simply caught in the wrong end of an economic cycle. A $500 increase in tuition is certainly worth maintaining the quality education here at the University and maybe even more importantly, the quality of a University degree.
(Joe Schilling's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jschilling@cavalierdaily.com.)
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